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Pellet firing victims crowd SMHS, many hit in eyes

Publish Date: 9-05-18 9:50 PM

Srinagar, May 08: Nearly 50 survivors of government forces firing in Shopian are presently admitted at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital in Srinagar, most of them hit by pellets in vital organs, including the eyes.
Six civilians so far have been reported killed in the firing.
The ophthalmology wards of SMHS Hospital are overflowing with more than 16 young boys maimed in the fresh pellet firing in Kashmir. The emergency ward has also been witnessing chaotic scenes since Sunday as fresh firing survivors were admitted to the hospital.
The moving tale of Shameema (45) from Homun village of Shopian and her 12-year-old son, Shaib Malik, catches the attention of every visitor to the ophthalmology ward. Shaib lies crying in pain with his left eye taped in bandages.
“It is painful to see my son in this condition. I don’t allow him to go out when the situation is disturbed but I was unaware of when he left home on Sunday. I was looking for him but later I heard about his injury,” she said.
Shaib was injured on Sunday outside his home when police allegedly targeted him in the area after the conclusion of the encounter in Badigam.
Doctors said he might need multiple surgeries to get some vision back in his damaged eye.
Like him, there are 16 pellet-hit youths admitted in ward no 8 of SMHS Hospital who have lost their eyesight.
Simnan Ayub of Turkawangam, Shopian, said he has been seriously injured after sustaining by pellet injuries in his right eye.
Doctors said his eyeball has been severely damaged.
Ayub said when he tried to run for life, a policeman targeted him and pellets hit him in his eye.
“It was darkness all around me when pellets hit me. Suddenly, I lost consciousness till I was operated on here,” he told Kashmir Reader.
He has already undergone one surgery on Monday, and the doctors have their fingers crossed, hoping that the vision of the eye will recover.
However, Ayub said he still has blurred vision.
“They left me in pain and distress. I can’t see now,” he said.
Zubair Ahmad, a tractor driver from Reban, said police and army fired at him when he was working in orchards in Badigam.
“He has serious damage to the liver and intestinal region due to pellets,” doctors who treated him told Kashmir Reader.
“The pellets have entered his abdominal region, causing laceration of the liver,” said a senior doctor.
According to hospital records, 48 people, including children, were injured when police teams fired bullets and pellets on the gathering in Shopian on Sunday.
Medical Superintendent SMHS Hospital Dr Saleem Tak told Kashmir Reader that most of the injured had pellet injuries in one eye.
“We received 13 bullet injury casualties also, which are being managed at the hospital. Pellet victims will have to undergo multiple surgeries till we decide about the final management,” he said.
Courtesy: Kashmir Reader